The present invention relates to drivers and software for input devices, and in particular to scrolling and button software.
A scrolling wheel on a mouse typically sends data packets with a count indicating the distance the wheel has turned since the last packet. For keyboards, a scrolling wheel can use scan codes (see Microsoft U.S. Pat. No. 6,686,904). Different programs use these codes for different purposes, most commonly for scrolling in some programs, and zooming in others.
KYE U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,370 describes a flywheel for a scrolling wheel on a mouse. Also, Logitech U.S. Published Application No. 20070146324, “Multi-function roller apparatus and method for a control device,” describes a switch for alternating a roller between a ratchet and a smooth roller mode, with a flywheel for extended scrolling in the smooth-roller mode. The roller is mechanically pivoted to a corrugated surface to provide the ratchet function.
A number of computer mice include a roller or wheel which can be rotated by a user's finger. Typically, such a roller is used for scrolling. One example is set forth in Logitech U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,369, and other examples are described in the background section of that patent.
Other patents describing a roller or wheel include U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,455 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,344. U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,455 also describes determining the speed of scrolling in the mouse driver software, and switching between line scrolling and page scrolling depending on the speed. Momentum scrolling is also described, where the scrolling continues after the scroll wheel has stopped being turned. Gilligan U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,229 also teaches line or page scrolling.
Microsoft U.S. Pat. No. 7,071,919 sets forth that in a page positional scrolling (PPS) mode useful for scrolling short distances, a displayed document is scrolled one pixel per one pixel of motion of the mouse. In a second mode (document positional scrolling—DPS), the document is scrolled a distance per pixel of mouse movement corresponding to the ratio of the document length (or width) to the page length (or width). In a further embodiment (smoothed document positional scrolling—SDPS), as the mouse is moved away from a starting position the system begins scrolling in PPS, transitions smoothly from PPS to DPS, and then continues to scroll in DPS.
Logitech U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,161 describes a system to jump a pointer to a scroll box and lock the pointer to an elevator of the scroll box.
Samsung U.S. Pat. No. 7,094,980 describes a button near a scroll wheel that changes its function from a focus function when a 1st button is pressed, to a menu selecting function when a second button is pressed.
Microsoft U.S. Pat. No. 6,700,564 describes a horizontal scrolling wheel where the scrolling speed can be affected relative to the amount of displacement of the rotatable member and/or the amount of time that the rotatable member is displaced a predetermined amount.
A button near the scrolling wheel which switches the wheel from controlling vertical to horizontal scrolling is shown in Gillick U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,455 and Toshiba published Japanese application JP 2002366300.
IBM U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,370 describes a user tool (a cursor shaped like a physical highlighter) to mark text on a document, such as an HTML document displayed in a Web browser. Upon selection of this text, and preferably following a time delay, a pop-up menu appears that offers the user the option of searching for this text. Another IBM patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,469, describes querying a knowledge portal when text is highlighted with a mouse. Atomica U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,306 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,631 describe right clicking on a word to bring up a “retrieve information” selection, and then searching for data relating to the word in a second computer. IBM U.S. Pat. No. 6,785,670 describes highlighting text in a document, such as a word document, then clicking a mouse to bring up a menu of search engines to use to search the highlighted term.